ward peaceably to his

grave,

till the money is.

paid; so that the unhappy debtor has no alternative but to comply with this demand, or have his creditor palmed on him as a lodger for some time. Sometimes, however, the deceased is a little unconscionable, by claiming a fictitious debt. In short, this superstition is often made subservient to fraudulent extortion. A negro, who was to be interred in one of the towns here, it was pretended by some of his friends, had a claim on another negro for a sum of money. The latter denied any such claim; and accordingly, at the funeral of the deceased, the accustomed ceremonies took place opposite to the door of his supposed debtor; and this mummery was continued for hours, till the magistrates thought proper to interfere, and compelled the defunct to forego his claim, and proceed quietly on to his place of rest.

Frequent attempts have been made to convert the negroes to Christianity, but generally by such contemptible missionaries as were very unfit and very inadequate to fulfil so solemn and important a duty. Not that the author would wish to insinuate, that some of these men are not very exemplary decent characters; and, however mistaken they may be in their religious tenets and opinions, still they deserve respect, and even reverence, instead of hatred and persecution, for the laborious and disinterested zeal

with which they perform a most fatiguing, hazardous, and often ill-requited duty, in various parts of the globe. But it has not often happened, that men of this character have visited this island, in order to exercise their apostolic functions; and perhaps if they had, they would have met with little encouragement; for the truth is, the planters in general do not wish to have that portion of the time of their slaves occupied in religious exercises and attendance, which they think should be devoted to the more substantial and indispensable purpose of providing for their support and that of their families. They are of opinion too, that the slaves do not reap any considerable mental benefit by such attendance. The fact is, if the sabbath day was devoted to the instructing and converting of the negroes, another day must necessarily be allowed them, in lieu thereof, to attend to their temporal concerns; and this would be considered by many as a hardship and inconvenience. A law of the island now exists against "itinerant preachers"; and as for the regular clergy of the island, there are few of them who are so solicitous about making proselytes as about making money. It has been said, that the mind of the negro is too rude and barbarous to receive, with its desired effect, the principles and maxims of Christianity. Perhaps the experiment was never yet properly tried; at least most of the itinerant preachers who have worked in this vineyard, have not, as before observed,

been the most respectable or judicious characters. One of these, it is said, instead of inculcating the Christian virtues, directed a long dissertation, to his sable congregation, on slavery, and assimilated their condition to that of the oppressed Israelites, who at length escaped from the bondage of their unjust task-masters. A few such preachers as this in the island, would soon light up a flame, which neither their eloquence nor their sanctity could extinguish! Another, whom the author knew, was a low, ignorant, and avaricious character, who, while he exacted from the poor negroes the fruits of their labour, which he called a pious offering, consoled them with the assurance, that "the Lord would always provide for them." Many of them took up this in a literal sense, and were surprized, when inattention to their provision grounds had reduced them to want, that the Lord did not come to their assistance! In short, the negroes who attended this pastor were only Christians by halves; or rather they were reduced to a worse condition than that in which they were found, both with respect to mental happiness, and a true sense of the proper duties of religion and morality. They became, in consequence of the methodistical cant of this pretended teacher, more hypocritical, more cunning, and cautious in their actions, more regardful of outward appearances, and observances of religion, without improvement in its genuine duties; less cheerful and lively, full of a religious

gloom, bordering upon melancholy, and, in many respects, less happy, and less attentive, either to the affairs of their families, or the interest of their owners. Like their prototype teacher, they conceived, or affected to think, that canting, whining, and psalm-singing, were more acceptable in the sight of heaven, than honesty, charity, forgiveness, and an attention to the cardinal virtues; in short, that good works were inferior to faith. The author knew a poor elderly negro woman, who had always been remarkable for cheerfulness, alacrity, and an animated attention to the duties she owed to herself and to her family, suddenly, from an over-zealous attendance on a Mulatto preacher, sink into a gloomy languor and listless despondency; she neglected herself, she neglected her family-she would not even exert herself to provide for the most obvious and urgent wants; and when reproved for it, the poor creature would reply, with a piteous look and whining tone, "The Lord would help his servant!" Nor is this by any means a singular picture of the effects of these mock-religious exhortations. But were a few respectable and really pious and sensible men to undertake the task of inculcating the true principles of religion in the minds of the negroes, there is hardly a doubt of their success. As for the baptismal ceremony alone, it is merely a nominal thing. At the same time, it is to be observed, that there are a great many men in

this island, and those reputed grave respectable characters, who would start what they conceived to be insurmountable objections to an attempt at general conversion, on any terms. They would say, that, generally, it would make the slaves little better or more virtuous than they now are; that it would unnerve their minds; and, lastly, that the time which would be devoted to the performance of religious observances, would (as before observed) be more profitably bestowed, and in fact indispensably required, in the cultivation of their grounds, and other domestic avocations. The first two objections are far from being unanswerable; the latter deserves more attention: indeed this must remain a sort of bar to any such reformation, till Sunday shall cease to be, like any other, a day of labour and business; and to this innovation the author supposes nine out of ten of the white inhabitants of Jamaica would most strenuously object.

There is one good effect which the simple persuasion of his being a Christian produces on the mind of the negro; it is an effectual antidote against the spells and charms of his native superstition. One negro who desires to be revenged on another, if he fears a more open and manly attack on his adversary, has usually recourse to obeah. This is considered as a potent and irresistable spell, withering and palsying, by undescribable terrors, and unwonted sensations, the unhappy victim! Like the witches*